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Jeng-zai
Jeng-zai is a card game played with jeng-zai cards. It has been played for centuries across the heptarchate and later on in the hexarchate. The game is referred to throughout the Machineries of Empire continuity. Jeng-zai decks may be used for solitaire games,Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 5 gambling, fortune-telling, or card tricks. One card, the Deuce of Gears, became infamous as the personal emblem of General Shuos Jedao. Cards Suites Suits in a jeng-zai deck are Eyes, Roses, Doors, and Gears. Cards in each suit are numbered one to ten, followed by Page, Knight, Master, and Book.List of jeng-zai cards The Gears suit was originally associated with the Nirai;Raven Stratagem, Chapter 18 Eyes with the Shuos; and Doors with the Kel.Cooking the Books Podcast #032 interview: The Importance of Tangerines Major Arcana There are 22 major arcana cards in jeng-zai: The Novice; The Poet; The Inquisitor; The Hexarch; The Pyre; The Mathematician; The Courtesan; The Drowned General; The Soldier; The Scholar; The Spinning Coin; The Magistrate; The Dragon-Horse; Death; The Heretic; The Empty Hand; The Feast; The Star; The Moon; The Fortress; Judgment; and The Wheel of Worlds.List of jeng-zai cards: Major Arcana A possible variant has a card called the Burning Banner.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 2 Rules The game involves bluffing and raising of wagers, and ends when a player draws a winning hand.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 5 Ability to hide one's thoughts during play is an advantage.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 25 It can only be played with a complete deck.Revenant Gun, Chapter 37 Hands One winning hand, which Jedao can turn up at will, is an inner Splendor of Flowers, which includes a Four of Roses.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 5 Another desirable hand is a Crowned Door, which also has an inner version.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 21 A hand consisting of the Burning Banner, the Drowned General, and all four aces is considered unlucky.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 2 Variants Soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Kel Hren played a jeng-zai variant called "Fuck the Calendar" during resupply on the Fortress of Scattered Needles.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 15 History Jeng-zai has been played since the hexarchate was a heptarchate. A jeng-zai spread including a card combination known as the Web of Worlds was preserved in the Rahal records of the final Liozh heptarch's entrance exam.Seven Views of the Liozh Entrance Exam Shuos Jedao learned card tricks with a jeng-zai deck from Lirov Yeren,Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 22 and later taught some tricks to High General Kel Anien.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 20 On his vacation in An Evening's Offering, Jedao brought four jeng-zai decks with him as an easily-transported diversion, intending to play solitaire. He had a deck based on farm animals, given to him by his sister, with him when he met Hexarch Nirai Kujen.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 21 High General Anien left Kujen her deck of jeng-zai cards when she died.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 20 After Jedao's death, card designers tied themselves in knots trying to design versions of the Deuce of Gears that did not evoke Jedao. Hexarch Shuos Mikodez could hold his own at jeng-zai but got sick of it during his cadet years and never recovered.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 18 Shuos Zehun's poker face usually allowed them to win at the game.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 25 Kujen created towers of jeng-zai cards in the black cradle facility. When he turned up the Drowned General, Cheris, newly anchored to Jedao, saw it as a reference to her current situation.Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 5 After the takeover of the Swanknot swarm, Jedao used a jeng-zai deck, card tricks, and a cheating demonstration to distract onlookers from the true intent of the takeover.Raven Stratagem Links * Machineries of Tarot (card meanings by the author, spreads and coding by Stephanie G. Folse)Author's Reddit AMA * Complete list of cards and their meanings Trivia * In the tinyfic Servitor Tarot, a servitor draws an incongruous π of Gears.Servitor Tarot * A deck used by General Shuos Jedao had a card called the Chained Tower.Raven Stratagem, Chapter 13 * The author describes the deck as a "doomy, dystopia deck," with the happiness, goodness, and pleasure of most of the Roses suit offset by the Kel-related Doors and the Shuos-related Eyes.Cooking the Books Podcast #032 interview: The Importance of Tangerines References Category:Games Category:Heptarchate Category:Hexarchate